Returning Travellers Continue to Crowd Bakauheni Port Until H+7 Evening

South Lampung (ANTARA) - Thousands of returning pedestrians and private vehicles continued to arrive and crowd the Bakauheni Port area in South Lampung Regency during the H+7 return flow of Lebaran 2026, or early Sunday morning. From Saturday (28/3) at 23:00 WIB until Sunday (29/3) at 00:30 WIB, returning travellers intending to cross to Merak Port in Banten continued to arrive and fill the port area. The continuous influx of vehicles belonging to these returning travellers kept numerous police, TNI personnel, and ASDP officers busy regulating traffic flow inside the port to avoid vehicle pile-ups. Several returning travellers admitted to choosing to return downstream during the peak night of the second wave return flow because they needed to resume work soon, while others aimed to avoid the peak density of the daytime return flow. PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero)’s President Director, Heru Widodo, when interviewed in Bakauheni on Saturday, stated that the peak return flow at Bakauheni Port occurred on Saturday and Sunday, or H+6 to H+7. According to him, to address the surge and vehicle build-up at Bakauheni Port, his company had prepared strategies such as the delay system, ticket screening, and TBB (Arrive-Unload-Depart). “I convey that the number of reserved passengers from 00:00 WIB to 15:30 WIB today has reached 18,000 vehicles. I am confident that the characteristic of passengers travelling at night remains high. We will implement the TBB scheme,” he said. “Both the outbound and return flows this year have gone well. From Bakauheni, about 30 percent of outbound travellers remain. All schemes have been prepared, from buffer zones and delaying systems to additional ships, so the density can be cleared in the next two days,” he added.